Thursday, 20 October 2011

The man behind Merkel´s failed energy policy

Now we know why the German energy policy has been such a massive failure. It appears that AngelaMerkel has let herself be guided by Jeremy Rifkin, a Wharton Business School professor who is said to have been Merkel´s adviser for six years.

And no wonder that the "green" Spanish energy policy, with huge subsidies to solar and wind energy also has been a catastrophy - the same Rifkin has also been socialist PM Zapatero´s adviser. In addition Rifkin has, according to Bloomberg, also advised French president Sarkozy and the European Commission, central players in the failed EU energy and climate change policy.

This is how Rifkin now is "advising" Merkel and the other EU leaders:

Angela Merkel won’t allow the euro region to split because she understands that could cause “a dark age” by wrecking the bloc’s energy markets as oil supplies dwindle, said an adviser to the German chancellor.

Europe’s 500 million residents, the wealthiest market on Earth, have led the development of technologies in clean energy, transport and communications that can drive global growth that doesn’t rely on oil, said Jeremy Rifkin, a Wharton Business School professor who has advised Merkel for six years.

Rifkin, in the Spanish capital to speak today at a Rafael del Pino Foundation conference, has advised Merkel, French Premier Nicolas Sarkozy and Spain’s Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero that the global economy’s fundamental problem stems from the end of a growth model based on fossil fuels.

Sustainable expansion will only return when officials and executives can produce “the third industrial revolution,” the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School professor argues in a book of the same title due to be published next month. The shift will involve harnessing Internet technology to manage a decentralized network of renewable power generators based in homes and offices, Rifkin said. Domestic hydrogen batteries and computer software will allow consumers to buy and sell power over a smart network, he said.

The question is, how long Merkel and co can afford to follow this false prophet. Rifkin´s "third industrial revolution" is - and will remain - a pipe dream for the foreseeable future. Surely nobody who is serious about future global energy needs can take this guy speaking about "domestic hydrogen batteries" seriously.

The sooner Merkel and the other EU leaders find a new energy adviser, the better!